The Duke and Duchess of
Marlborough and the Duke���s
daughter, interior designer
Lady Henrietta Spencer
Churchill, had invited us for
a fall weekend house party.
I was keen to spend time
with an old friend, Henrietta,
and her family. I was also
on a mission. But before
disclosing it, more on the
palace.
Blenheim was built 300 years
ago by a grateful Britain as
a gift to John Churchill who
was also fashioned as the
first Duke of Marlborough,
house and title rewards for
a stunning, seminal victory
over the French. The Spencer
Churchill family, as they
would come to be known,
and Blenheim would play an
even greater historical role in
the twentieth century. First,
however, several American
marriages would take place,
in particular to New Yorkers,
that would set the stage for
the coming history.
